3-color Chandra X-ray image of NGC 346
This Chandra image of NGC 346 focuses on the region close to HD 5980, the star embedded in the diffuse emission. Three energy bands were used to create this image: red corresponds to 0.3-1.0 keV, green to 1.0-2.0 keV, and blue to 2.0-10.0 keV. The Chandra observation provides the first X-ray detection of HD 5980.
(Credit: Y.Nazé et al.)

Full-field 3-color Chandra X-ray image of NGC 346
In addition to analyzing the region immediately surrounding HD 5980, the investigators looked at the field surrounding it. They found 75 point sources, about five times the number of sources detected by previous X-ray observations. It may turn out that a large number of these sources are X-ray binaries.
(Credit: Y.Nazé et al.)

DSS Optical Image of NGC 346
With the exception of HD 5980, the brightest stars seen in this optical image generally do not correspond to the X-ray sources found in the Chandra data.
Scale: Image is approx. 3 arcmin per side
(Credit: Digitized Sky Survey U.K.Schmidt Image/STScI)

2MASS Infrared Image of NGC 346
Scale: Image is approx. 3 arcmin per side
(Credit: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF)